CM's girls roll to sectional championship game with romp over Murphysboro

Feb 22, 2017 5:46 AM Feb 23, 2017 6:48 AM

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WATERLOO – Civic Memorial girls basketball coach Jonathan Denney didn't mince his words when it came to Allie Troeckler Tuesday night.

“Let's be honest, she's (Troeckler) has to be on the floor for us in this postseason run; she can't take herself out of the game like that,” Denney said after Troeckler – who wound up with 22 points – had two quick fouls in the opening moments of their IHSA Class 3A Waterloo Sectional semifinal contest against Murphysboro.

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Denney didn't waste time pulling Troeckler after her second foul, but Troeckler's absence may have possibly proved one thing – the Eagles are a lot more than their senior standout, her teammates picking up the slack after Troeckler sat down to get out to a 15-9 lead at quarter time and 32-15 at the half en route to a 60-39 win over the Red Devils to advance to Thursday night's sectional final against Highland, 67-43 winners over Carterville in Tuesday's other semifinal clash.

The Eagles moved to 30-2 on the year with the win, while the Red Devils were eliminated at 22-8.

The Mississippi Valley Conference rivals take each other on for the fourth time this season in a highly anticipated showdown at 7 p.m., with the winner heading to next Monday's Springfield Supersectional at Illinois-Springfield against the Decatur MacArthur Sectional winner.

“The first quarter-and-a-half showed we were more than Allie Troeckler,” Denney said. “There's going to be life after Allie Troeckler because when you're running with a freshman and some juniors our there on the floor, I thought the other kids played well. (Kaylee) Eaton stepped it up, Alaria Tyus stepped it up and everybody had something to say to stretch the lead out for us without Allie.”

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When it comes to Thursday's clash with the Bulldogs, Denney thinks the Eagles have to do one thing. “We've got to be more careful with the basketball,” Denney said. “I thought we were very careless with the basketball; I thought we caught it instead of ripping it and putting it in our pockets and making the sound, fundamental pass.

“We were trying to make the great play every time down the floor and we were careless and threw some bad passes. We can't be like that against Highland.”

“It doesn't matter if (Troeckler) was out or who was out,” said Devil coach Keith Jones. “They're (CM) loaded from top to bottom; that's a great team. I was just happy that our girls stayed in there and competed the whole game. They never once tucked their tails and gave up, but that's how they've been all year.”

Eaton certainly helped pick up the slack with Troeckler's absence; she scored all but four of her 18 points in the first half; Kourtland Tyus ended up with seven points, with Hannah Schmidt adding five and Alaria Tyus and Tori Pfeifer scoring four each. Murphysboro was led by 14 points each from Angel Jones and Mikayla Brasel, with Kayla Walker the only other Red Devil on the scoresheet with 11 points.

“We've got to just come out and do what we do well, take care of the basketball a little bit better and make sure we're blocking out and taking care of our assignments on defense,” Denney said of Thursday's game against the Bulldogs. “I really think that if we play well, we can beat either one of the teams, but at the same time, if we're careless with the basketball, it's a coin flip.

“If you don't take care of the basketball against Highland, you're only going to get so many possessions; we've got to be a little bit smarter as a basketball team.”